NFL: Arians should be Eagles' top target

Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, left, celebrates with offensive coordinator Bruce Arians after their 28-16 win over the Houston Texans last Sunday. Arians is a top candidate for the Eagles head coaching vacancy. (AP Photo)

After 14 years of Andy Reid coaching the Eagles – sometimes well, always his way – it wasn’t even 14 minutes into Jeff Lurie’s press conference Monday before the Reid autopsy was completed and the butcher shop that provides fresh coaching meat in the NFL called for the next number: Who’s next?

“We do have a very, very defined list of candidates,” Lurie said, starting a search he can only hope will continue to run as long as the cicada life cycle. “We hope to meet with some of them as soon as possible.”

The NFL playoffs will slow the process when it comes to some of the coordinators still prepping their teams for games. However, the Falcons’ first-round bye means Lurie, general manager Howie Roseman and advisor Don Smolenski will get to interview all of the candidates from Atlanta, which apparently includes three coordinators and a couple of ball boys.

The search committee also should be able to hook up with everyone’s favorite college coaching prospect, Oregon’s Chip Kelly, soon. Tomorrow night, plenty of discerning Philadelphia eyes will be on Kelly’s Ducks as they take on Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl.

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Kelly has been an innovative offensive coach, enough so that NFL coaches have gleaned some of his ideas and used them with success. However, it’s one thing to be an innovator of the spread offense; it’s another to know you can’t commit to a niche system in the NFL.

A few high-profile college coaches have succeed during their first foray into the pro game; way more have failed, many of them in famously humiliating fashion.

Interviewing Kelly is the right thing to do. But there is a candidate out there with a resume that makes him uniquely prepared to be an NFL head coach, but particularly in Philadelphia.

Bruce Arians has become a fashionable name in the coaching world this year. When Chuck Pagano had to step away from his head-coaching duties in Indianapolis to battle leukemia, Arians took over and led the Colts to a stunning 9-3 record.

A quarter-century ago, Arians was the head coach of Temple. He grew up in York. He knows Philadelphia.

He also knows success. He won a couple of Super Bowl rings in Pittsburgh, first as a receivers coach, then as the offensive coordinator. He was the offensive coordinator of the Browns during their only respectable period since the NFL returned football to Cleveland with an expansion team. He actually made Tim Couch have success. Think about that as you look at Nick Foles.

Speaking of Foles, if there is a quarterback his tools could allow him to resemble if he somehow grows into a viable NFL QB, it would be Ben Roethlisberger. Word in Pittsburgh has been that Big Ben and Arians were tight, and that he and Arians’ replacement, Todd Haley, haven’t hit it off. Also, Roethlisberger restructured his contract for the Steelers last season to help with cap space, but that gives him a huge cap number ($20.5 million) for 2013.

If there is a time he could be available and acquired fairly cheaply, this is it. Yes, he’s had some off-the-field issues. But there aren’t many times a two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback becomes attainable. Hiring Arians could give the Eagles an opportunity to have that discussion with the Rooneys.

Lurie used the Colts as an example of a team that went from terrible one year to the postseason the next. He does not think the Eagles necessarily have to be bottom feeders in 2013.

“It’s a league that is changing rapidly. The rules have changed rapidly,” Lurie said. “They’ve allowed for a lot of advancement for what you can do. I think it’s reflected by the young quarterbacks coming into the league and I think we’ve got a lot of young talent here. I think we have to take it further.”

There are no young quarterbacks in the upcoming draft who can do what Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III have done in Indy and D.C. And there is no way Nick Foles can do that in 2013 (if ever).

The Eagles need a coach and a quarterback. Bruce Arians would be a terrific choice as coach. And he might help them find a quick and effective answer at quarterback, too.